`Central government should work with states to tackle terror’

Agartala, Nov 5 (IANS) The central government and the northeastern states should work jointly to deal with security threats in the region, Tripura Chief Minister Manik Sarkar has said.”The police and the security agencies in the northeast and the centre must work in close cooperation to tackle the rising menace of terrorism in the region,” Sarkar told journalists Tuesday.

He said: “Following my request to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the centre has called a meeting of the directors-general of police of the northeastern states to discuss strategies to deal with security threats in the region.”

Chief secretaries of all the northeastern states would attend the meeting in New Delhi Wednesday. It would be chaired by Madhukar Gupta, union home secretary.

Police chiefs and intelligence officials of the northeastern states and heads of central paramilitary forces would also participate in the meeting.

Sarkar said: “The meeting is expected to chalk out fresh security strategies to effectively deal with the prevailing situation.”

Three northeastern states, Assam, Manipur and Tripura witnessed a series of powerful blasts in October claiming at least 100 lives, including 81 in Assam and wounded about 500 people.